Super Metroid
by Raynor Zeraph
Summary: Nothing special in the title. It's an account of what went on in Samus' head during her second mission on Zebes. It was originally just gonna be for a chat board I go to, but I'm transferring it here, too.
1. Genesis

These may end up being rather short, as I'm basically writing this on a message board and doing a little copy-pasta as I go. It's a little gift for this message board I'm part of, because I'm taking a little hiatus from my other project. I'm going there every so often when I feel like writing a bit more of it. It's the story of Super Metroid, with a few creative changes made. It's gonna be pretty close to the path you take in the game, since I'm basically imagining the game play out as I do this. I might have to play a rom or something to refresh my mind every once in a while, Maridia in specific. (a friend's borrowing the cartridge)

but yeah, whenever I update on that site, I'll try and remember to copy-paste it into a document and send it on over to here. It's not edited, because they're not too critical about those sorta things on the site, and this is primarily for them, so bear with minor mistakes. If I'm bored I MIGHT edit this site's version.(The "site" is metroidclub. com. join if you have any interest in metroid stuff.If I'm not allowed to advertise this in stories, then I'll just take the story down, because I won't put this here without putting that bit in, too.)

* * *

it had only been a few short moments since I had dropped off the metroid larva at the galactic research institute, as they insisted on being called back then. I was only a half hour from the station when I picked up a distress signal from the nearby station. I returned to the station and docked where I had left. Something seemed off about the lack of communication in the signal. The only recording was "Blood everywhere... blood and fire... and-...oh god, his teeth!" I was concerned, and deeply disturbed at how it began and ended.I knew, going into the station, that something was there, and I had an idea what it was that had gone wrong... 

I had just gone on board, and already I was experiencing a deep feeling of dread. Something had obliterated every crew member in sight... I saw only one man breathing, and as I was walking over to him he was saying something. It was barely audible. "He came.. the fire... nothing even phased him, we couldn't stop him he went for the-!" He slowly, but surely stopped breathing. I shut his eyelids and walked away. I had been wrong. The metroid hadn't turned on them. If it had, that man wouldn't have said nothing could stop it. Perhaps catching them off guard would have made this possible, but not even a full-grown metroid would have caused those scratches on the wall... besides... they were mostly made from human fingernails. Another wave of dread came over me, but I continued through it.

I walked throught the first door, the door to the metroid's containment and studies lab. There wasn't the slightest sign that the metroid escaped from the inside. It was as if something had breached all the barriers and shattered all the glass at once. I turned on my thermal visor, one of the few things still functioning since the metroid caught me by surprise on my last mission... It was an embarrassing thought, but I had been caught off guard by a metroid just as I was about to leave, and it left me critically injured.. many of my suit's upper functions had been destroyed, but I still had life support. so I escaped alive, and it was a grave reminder that even when the job seems done, there's always more to come.

I walked through the room, looking at the bodies that littered the floor. It was disgusting. The only thing that kept blood from pouring out their wounds was the presence of massive burns all across most of the bodies. It had sealed the wounds with burns, effectively sealing the blood off. But the burnt blood left a strong smell in the air. Even through my life support I could smell copper in the air, and it disgusted me. Whatever did this would pay. I entered the last door, and there lay the metroid larva, still in its final container, the container I had handed it to the scientists in. They didn't even have a chance to transfer it into its final storage cell.

Suddenly, something had caught my eye. What was it? I knew that shape, that form... Oh no... My suit is too damaged for this, even with all my training. I'll barely leave a mark before... No, I can beat him again. I had defeated him once, I'll do it again, too... Before I could raise my arm cannon in defence, Ridley's tail whipprf out at me, as if reading my thoughts and realizing he had been discovered in the dark corner. I stood up again, regaining composure just in time to avoid his cascading fire blasts, taking only minimal damage from the heat. I firef right at his face. My power beam may not damage past his plated skin, but his mouth was another thing entirely.

I jumped to the side as his tail whipped out at me again. He was toying with me. He knew he could take me down, and wanted to enjoy it. I knw how to catch him off guard, maybe chase him off... I jump at the metroid larva just as he casted a second wave of fire at me. His eyes were lifted as he did it, unable to see where I had dodged to. By the time he was able to see me again, I was at the edge of the door, and running out. Suddenly, I fell forward, and the metroid larva was gone. I turned around, and my suit bellows with a warning I knew all too well. I couldn't take another hit like that... but I didn't have a chance to take another hit... as Ridley grabbed the metroid larva, he blew a hole through the wall, and left out through the fresh hole in the wall. The station's emergency sytems kicked in, sealing the hole artificially, but suddenly, a second warning was given off, and a loud voice could be heard all throughout the station. "Self-destruct mechanism activated. Self destruct in three minutes." I caught my breath and sprint down the hall. I only had a few minutes to get out, and I needed to follow Ridley. I couldn't let the pirates have that larva...

I'd only gotten to the last home stretch, when suddenly the artificial gravity started going on the fritz. The station's gravity was suddenly off to the side a bit, giving the feeling that the entire station was just a tower, leaning in its final minutes. Steam shot up from the panels, the ventilation system obviously directly underneath it. As I jumped up the last few stairs, skipping entire flights, the rocking and steam become so great that it impaired me heavily. I was forced to stop jumping as I slammed against the wall. The gravity had suddenly gone sideways to the wall. I ran up the wall and leaped forward, diving into the hatch and decompressing before running to my ship. I climbed in and flew off, out of the station, thirty seconds early, I thought to myself, but after only ten seconds, the colony exploded behind me, sending my ship down to a familiar planet: Zebes.

Ok, I lied. I realized after chapter five that I started in a different tense of everything. (I said I did that in my profile, didn't I?). So, I've come back to edit everything and make it match the future chapters. I'll keep the tense in mind from now on, since I have this horribly obnoxious reminder in my head.


	2. Memories

To clear things up: My writer's notes are VERY rant-like, and I just spill the beans about whatever's on my mind as I write them, so if you don't care to read a whole lot of nonsense, then skip them. These notes in particular are very rant-like.

I'd just realized that I had this here, and I'd already done the first two chapters, so I went back and am sending this one in, too. I guess this has some sort of special meaning to me, because it's a gift for a website where I actually know the people. I mean, I've met them, and that kinda makes me want to write something that actually means something to both me, and them. It's a Metroid Fan-site, as you may have guessed, but it's small, so we basically just hang out and have a good laugh. We all know each other in real life for the most part, so the conversations are usually about more personal things then you'd discuss with strangers. That, and the fact that I really, really like most of the people, makes me write this story faster then the other stories I have on my mind. Expect this to come out in a firestorm of written documents, I guess.

* * *

I had just entered the atmosphere, the gray skies, an acidic rain coming down in a drizzle. The acid wasn't strong, but it was enough that the average metal would decay in a day or so. Thankfully, my ship had shielding to protect from environmental damage. I had just landed on the surface when feelings swept over me in a sudden wave of nostalgia. Something just made Zebes feel like an old... _home_ to me... I was just getting out when I realized how dead the planet seemed. Almost as if all life had abandoned it... It was probably just the storm. Last time I was here there were creatures all over the surface, and they weren't the most welcoming kind. I stepped out slowly, breathing in a new scent. This was different from last time. it smelled of rotten corpses this time... probably the lingering scent from the station, but it smelled like _death_.

As I shoot the first door open, I realized that it's not just the surface, but the caves were also empty. Perhaps the pirates had finally cleaned house, gotten rid of all the pests. I knew the part of the cave. It would branch down and soon I'd be in highly familiar territory. I jumped down, but suddenly, everything seemed very different from last time. There had been a total makeover. The tunnel continued down for a while. I kept going down, and eventually... surprisingly quickly, I was back in the old tourian. I was very near the fateful site... I landed at the bottom of the final stretch, and went right ahead, into a door. I knew what was next. And there I stood, in the glass that used to protect Mother Brain. This was the site of our last fight. I was hoping that it would be the last fight I'd have on this planet, but I was apparently wrong, because here I was, and I'm still looking for that blasted larva, and Ridley, who had taken it. I stepped through the chamber with an odd reverence about it, as if I felt compelled to keep it as un-touched as I could. I felt like it deserved to be kept as it was, as I remembered it. I stepped through one more door, and a new elevator stood in front of me. This was the deepest I've been up untill now. This was the old site in the very heart of the base. I felt like I was just barely on the surface.

I stepped on and went down. For how long, I'm still not sure. I was so lost in thoughts of my last time here... something was definately wrong. The entire place had been changing the entire base, and had re-established all the key facilities. The obvious life support systems made that obvious. I reached the bottom. They had taken the entrance and moved it down here, or at least re-made the original look and feel of it. So, even the Space Pirates had some connection to their old base... I saw a ledge to my right, and decided to check it out, first. Last time I was here, everything was so different about here. Now, only the entrance looked the same. I jumped up the platforms jutting from the side and peeked down. I saw an upgrade chip, still in its sphere. The space pirates had apparently moved it from a chozo statue somewhere, probably to research it. I couldn't afford them that chance, so I jumped down, and broke the sphere, taking the chip and re-scanning it into my system. One more function returned to my suit. I wondered how many more I would find during my newest trip here.

I was lost in thought, but no sooner had I taken a few steps away then a bright light was shining at me. The Pirates! I quickly jumped away and blew a hole through the wall, rolling through. They'd installed security this time around. I ran to the right, and shot open the door across the hall. I continued down the hall, hoping to find something of use. The pirate security I saw on my way down was too tough for my weapons right now. I ran through the halls. I had to get some heavier weapons, and fast. The pirates wouldn't be too far behind me after the alarm went off. I continued down the hall and rolled through a small crack in the wall. I found a weapon storage container, and it looked like my suit would be able to adapt it. I pushed my arm cannon into the weapons, and it adjusted untill it was able to successfully absorb and adapt the weapon data. I now had some explosives to work with. That should be enough to open some of the doors I'd seen on the way down.

As I ran back to the elevator, I noticed a sudden presence of zoomers. The pirates had somehow kept them hidden and away from me untill the security had detected where I was. I ran through without incident, and was heading up the elevator. I felt uneasy. It was the same as last time, except now I was far more experienced. I was faster, more agile, and had picked up some new tricks... But so had the pirates...


	3. Revelations

The elevator stops as I reach the top of the shaft, suddenly immersed in a much more alive world then it had been. All the equipment had suddenly become active, sending a bright light across all the rooms. The pirates had known I was coming, and had deactivated all their equipement, for some reason. Apparently, the alarm system was still active, and when I set it off, everything was reactivated. The very fact that they knew I was coming was disturbing, even though I had just followed Ridley, one of their leaders, down from the destroyed station. I opened the door into Mother Brain's old chambers and was promptly greeted by a room of pirates. Low-level scouts, sent out to make sure their suspicions were correct, and that I was really present in their midst. My suspicions of them being scouts were correct; they had only low level plasma weaponry, and their armor was negligible, if it was even present. They were easily crushed, but their deaths would surely warn the rest of the pirates of my presence. They had been sent as kamikaze units, their death would bring harm to my mission, if not end it promptly. I had to move quickly to avoid detection. I ran through the chambers, and was surprised with a large group of pirates in the large vertical room. My opinion on them being a fully-armed station now neglected, I jumped up, blasting holes through their make-shift blockade as I advanced. I reached the top, only to find that the door was sealed. They'd trapped me. The scout-class pirates swarmed around me, but it was still to no effect. None of them even harmed me.

I was greeted by a flash as the last pirate fell. Apparently, the rooms were sealed by something planted into the pirate's armor. Or, perhaps, skin. Either way, once their vitals failed, the door became unlocked. Keeping the new lock system in mind, I proceeded through the door, and saw the cavern in a new light, brought on from somewhere I couldn't see, but it was illuminating a cave that was now crawling with zoomers and other creatures common to Zebes. I climbed up, avoiding and destroying the bothersome creatures as I did. It always amazed me how a hidden zoomer could be more painful then a direct confrontation from weaker space pirates. I reached the top in a short time, and could find no other way to go other then where I entered from. I was just about to jump over a ledge, when something struck me. quite literally. A shriekbat had just crashed down on me. I fell to the ground, spinning so that I could see the thing, and fired three times. I hit three shriekbats, all three exploding from their destroyed bodies. Something in the creatures here cause them to detonate when I shoot them. It was odd, but I rolled quickly to avoid the burning-hot spittle that emerged from their destruction.

I lay on the ground for a moment, slightly battered, but mostly fine for now, and let my head roll sideways, resting my eyes for a moment. I opened my eyes, and saw a small crack in the wall. Just big enough that I might fit in it. The pirates wouldn't ever find me there, so I rolled into morph ball and headed in, hoping to catch some rest in the hole. I rolled a bit farther then I meant to, but found myself unable to stop. I was falling, fast. I rolled off the side of an edge and returned to my normal state, watching quickly approaching ground. I was relieved that it was only a three, maybe four story drop. That much I could handle. I land on the ground with a loud thud, and look around to see a door. The metal panels scattered around didn't look like they were pirate tech. It reminded me more of the Chozo, actually. I opened the door to find a room covered in the panels. And at the end of the room, a friendly sight: A chozo statue, upgrade chip safely tucked away in the sphere it held in its hands. I was sure of it now: place was made, partially, by the Chozo, and not entirely by the pirates. I was surprised by this, and also worried. If the Chozo had already built it, then the station could be any size, it all depended on how much of it was Chozo, and how much was Pirate.

I walked up to the statue and shot the sphere, blowing it open, without harming the precious cargo inside. I gathered the chip, and was greeted by a message from my systems. Once the chip was analyzed, I was glad to know that my bomb function had been restored by the data. I could get around much more easily with that in hand. I turned to exit the room, but the door closed in my face, moments before I stepped through. I shot it once. Nothing happened. Again, I shot it, and it still didn't react. It turned a grey color, and suddenly I knew what was next. I turned around in time to see a stone exoskeleton falling from the statue's skin. I wathed as the Torizu fully freed itself from it's hard, stony skin, and switched my weapon system to missiles, aiming straight for it's head.

* * *

Woohoo, my first cliff-hanger. I basically just didn't want to write the long bit that I would need before another suitable ending to the chapter would come up, so I ended it right there. I won't cliff-hang all that often, but I'm too tired to write for too much longer. 


	4. Discovery

I'm not too proud of this chapter in particular, but I'm pretty sure that it serves its purpose and gets the whole thing going a little bit faster. It's not my best one by far, but, as I'm writing these on the fly, I'm not really going to EVER go back and redo a chapter. If it stinks, then I'll just have to make sure the next one is a lot better. If it's a slow chapter, I'll have to speed things up for the next. I'm not going to be editing these as much as I would edit one of my other stories.

* * *

I waited for it to make the first move, these things we always ready to dodge, but I couldn't catch it off guard. I didn't want to waste any missiles, so I would make sure I could hit it before shooting. It raised its claws and charged, well... walked... towards me. I dodged to the side and fired. I was lucky; the dank cave had left the fake blessing slow and weakened. Its skin was damaged heavily as I unloaded ten missiles into it, taking only a short moment to use my full arsenal. I changed to my standard weapon and fired at its now burst stomach. It opened its mouth, and I aimed upward, watching to see what it was going to do. Glowing stones were regurgitated from it, forming a makeshift wall of stones, quickly falling at me. I couldn't dodge them all, but I could tell from here that they were soft and weak. I fired at them repeatedly, a stone shattering every time one of my blasts made contact. I rolled out of the way of the last remaining stones and my suit absorbed the large amount of thermal energy their destruction had caused. Some of it was used to replenish my suit's shielding, which was only slightly damaged, but the rest my suit converted into weapon supplies, and my suit began the slow process of turning energy into usable weapons.

All the while, the statue had been walking towards me, slightly off-centered, but I soon found myself in a corner, shooting into its open wounds. It had planned every step. It wasn't fast, but it was apparently smart enough to trap me. A message on my visor told me that my suit was finished replenishing my missiles. The creature opened its mouth and was about to launch another volley of stones. It would never have the chance, if I had my way. I fired a second volley of missiles into its mouth, effectively blowing its head clean off. It immediately began walking towards me, headless, and much faster then it had been before. It caught me off guard, and I soon found myself pinned between its leg and the wall. It was crushing me, but I knew it would die soon. One of the missiles had been set to detonate late, giving it time to jam right above its stomach, right next to its heart. I heard an explosion, and fire shot from where its head should have been, and the open wound in its stomach.

The explosions repeated. I had almost forgotten that these were, in fact, Chozo-made beasts. They weren't quite tests for me, but they were more of a security measure, to make sure that key upgrades didn't fall into the wrong hands. The creature finally detonated as I rolled away from it, fairly undamaged from the blast. My suit absorbed the abundant thermal energy it left behind, and fully repaired itself, my missiles slowly replenishing. The door blinked a furious white every other moment, and it reacted as I shot it. I stepped out into the cave again, tired, and bruised from being crushed against a wall. I found my eyesight blurring. Even my suit couldn't protect me from blunt-force trauma. Between Ridley and the torizu beating me senseless, I had suffered enough damage to kill an average human several times over. I was falling to my knees from sheer exhaustion. I hadn't slept in weeks, unable to get a break from the Galactic Federation constantly trying to contact me. I went back into the room with the statue. It would be safer in there. Just as I heard the door close, I blacked out entirely, falling into a deep sleep.

I woke up, and checked my suit's internal clock. Half a day had passed. It was far too long to have wasted. Even if it was unintentional, it was still unacceptable, and I chastised myself mentally for wasting that time. I shot open the door and jumped up the ledges on the wall, eventually finding the way blocked by rocks. I rolled into morph ball and rolled through, setting bombs in front of the rocks in order to destroy them. I emerged and ran away from the door. I had seen a similar wall at the other side of the tunnel. Looking up to find more shriekbats replacing the ones that were perched there before, I shot them before they had a chance to come down at me. I had to move fast to make up for lost time. I ran to the wall and dropped a few bombs in front of it, making a sort of wall with the explosives. The wall crumbled from the explosions, and a door was revealed. The pirates had probably sealed the way to block my progress. I shot the door and went through it, running through the downhill passage. I blasted few zoomers and wavers that came in the way, but other then that, it was a clear sprint down the corridor. I reached the end and saw something sticking out of the ground. It was filled with energy, and was easily recognizable. So the pirates had found a way to use the energy tanks in their machines. I picked it up and my suit quickly recognized it, integrating it into its systems, and wasting no time in reminding me with a message on my visor. "Extra energy tank installed, maximum possible energy storage at 5.' It was almost pathetic, how weak my suit was compared to how strong it _could_ be.

I blasted open the door and proceeded through. This room was very similar, but there were odd plant-like creatures on the floor. As I shot them, they seemed to produce a sort of natural defense mechanism, releasing pathetic spores into the air. They were harmless to me, but a quick scan revealed that against anything they could sink their teeth into, they would be an almost deadly foe. Their lack of teeth was made up for in acidic venom. I jumped over the flea-like creature and continued down the path, ignoring the creatures on the ground. I opened the next door and saw another elevator in front of me. This one was exactly like the last elevator room. I stepped onto the elevator and activated it, going down. As I went, my mind wandered again. My thoughts turned to my past missions and assignments, more specifically, my days in the Galactic Federation. I remembered all my old squad-mates. The only one that I could easily remember was my old commander. Adam...

The elevator reached the bottom of the shaft, the scenery changing very rapidly. My suit's computer pulled up some files regarding the new zone I was entering. It was called Brinstar, and was known to be the most organic portion of Zebes. A past expedition through here had found minimal tampering by the Chozo, which led the team to think of it as a haven for them. The creatures were probably ignored by the Chozo, or they had simply steered clear from them. They seemed mostly passive; the only creature that attacked anything nearby was the sidehopper. There was rarely a large sidehopper found, but if one managed to become an adult, it was a very strong foe. The small, baby-sized sidehoppers could be found everywhere, but, due to their hunter's instincts, they often died trying to eat something too strong for them, or they were destroyed by an older, stronger member of a different family. However, the creatures that I saw there were hardly like they were described. Every last creature was violent towards any unusual life that came near it. It was as if something had been disturbing, and even attacking them. The pirates had probably come through here, and, after finding it too dangerous to develop, had probably left it as was. Their temporary disturbance was probably enough to turn the creatures to a more violent mindset, however.

I jumped down, most of the doors not responding to my blasts. I found a door that opened from my first attempt to break it open, and stepped out into the large room that stretched out before me. I ran through, only running into a few reo on the way up. They were described as the most welcoming to strangers entering their territory, but the creatures I had destroyed seemed very different from what I had seen. I reached a blocked passage, but the wall seemed wet and soggy, like it had just grown there. I shot it, and sure enough, it was easily removed. I bombed the wall a few times, the plants that were blocking my way only moments before crumbling into dust as bomb after bomb went off. I reached the end of my make-shift tunnel, and returned to a standing pose. I looked up and saw a screechbat. It had been altered in some way. It had metal plating on its wings. I shot the door that was in front of me, and ran underneath them, diving just as they were about to fall on me.

As I rolled through the door a much larger room stretched in every direction from me. It seemed to be almost unending. I jumped onto a nearby ledge, and grabbed it, pulling myself up, and continuing up the room. Everything was open, but it bent and curved with a maze-like quality that seemed totally different from my computer's description. The map data my suit had was totally different from what I saw. I jumped up further; the only resistance I met being a few more reo. I was in the last area, and was leaning against the wall, catching my breath. It was unlike me, to be tired, but the climb was much longer then I thought it would be. As I was leaning, the plants I was leaning on collapsed a couple inches. I looked at it and shot at it a few times, the plants falling away as I blasted at them. I rolled through the new hole that I had formed, and was met with a door. Blasting it open, I found a space pirate refresher in front of me. It was a welcome sight. I hadn't yet filled my new energy tank, and this was exactly the sort of thing to fill it up. It was made for the weak space pirate armor that barely even had energy shielding. Their weapons were the main focus when it came to these refreshers, so I would have to stay for a while, but it would be worth the extra shielding. I stepped in, and waves of energy pelted my suit, filling my energy reserved slowly, my suit replenishing my missile ammunition with the excess energy. I sighed, comfortable to stand for a long while, waiting for my suit to tell me its energy had been filled. I began thinking of my past, and the task at hand. Thinking of what had to be done, my mind wandered off into a light sleep. Any disturbance would wake me, but I hadn't willingly slept in a while, so I welcomed the feeling.

* * *

I had something here, but it stuck out like a sore thumb, so I just got rid of it. It was something about nightmares, but I decided it bombed and meshed horribly, so I just got rid of it. Anyways, as I said, this isn't my favorite chapter. And that really goes to say that I didn't like how I did the fight. It wasn't very good in my eyes. However, I already have the next chapter written, and what I said at the beginning holds true to the other things I said. 


	5. Learning

This isn't the longest chapter so far. I apologize for the shortness, but I feel like this is probably the best chapter so far. I don't know what you'll think is the best, but this is the level I'm aiming for with all of my chapters. If I get it even better then this, then I'll be even happier then I am now. I wrote the last chapter earlier today, and, due to its quality, I felt like making up for it with this chapter. So, C&C on this one is even more appreciated then the last chapters, so please, do leave a comment and tell me what you think.

* * *

I was startled from my sleep by a buzz and a message on my visor tellling me it was fully charged. It had taken only ten minutes, but I managed to doze off in that time. I stretched a bit and loosened myself up. Standing and sleeping didn't leave me in the best battle-ready condition. I finished waking up, and opened the door, going back out the tunnel I had made earlier. I rolled out and looked around. Everything was basically the same as it was when I went it the tunnel, aside from the corpses of the creatures I had killed. Something had either taken or eaten their bodies. I jumped a small gap between the ledge I was standing on and the ledge that the door was above. I ran over, and stood under the door. I found it peculiar that there was a vertical door. My records told me it wasn't there before, and that it was definitely the space pirates. I found it peculiar that they had put it on the ceiling. I shot it open and jumped through it, the door closing just as I clear its path.

I land on the now closed door and suddenly see why it was in such a hard to reach position. It was for the Key hunters. They were responsible for rebuilding Zebes, as far as the Federation's databanks could tell, and they were the ones who were guarding the lower-level areas of Zebes. It was probably some experiment in the next room, but all I knew was that something was being guarded. I dodged to the right as one of them flew down at me, its claws scratching my suit, but I quickly return the greeting with several blasts at its wings. One shot clipped its wings, and the other hit its joints, blasting its wings clear off and sending it to the ground, where it wasn't as agile or dangerous. I jumped across the room, putting distance between us, all the while shooting at the other Key hunters in the room. I managed to blast the wings off the other three in the room, and I had plenty of time from there to pick them off from a safe distance. The door above me flashed, as the others had. I hadn't even noticed it was locked, but I ignored that fact and shot the door open.

The room was covered in vines similar to those in the first room in Brinstar. I noticed a large... sphere, in the middle of the room. It was bumpy, almost spiky all around, and it was attached to the wall by a set of similar, but much smaller spheres. I jumped through and looked at the monstrous... seed... Suddenly I noticed four plants on the ceiling. They started dropping seeds periodically, and I scanned them for any significance. They seemed to be almost bomb-like in design, and any contact would cause them to rupture, firing a corrosive acid stored in their thin, paper-like shell. I jumped to the side, a rapid motion from the large seed in middle catching my eye. Just as I was reaching the end of my dive, the seed crashed into the ground, dust and splinters of roots shooting up and around, popping several of the pods that were falling from the ceiling.

I looked up and scanned the seed for anything it was related to. Anything to understand what it was, and how to kill it. The doors had been locked, so my only chance was to kill this thing. My suit finished scanning it, and I dove out of the way of its second assault as the info came up on my visor. A pod had just popped on my suit as I dove, and it did some considerable damage to it. A warning went off at the side of my visor, and I ignored it, focusing on the seed and the information now on my visor. I was related to the Spore Spawn, a seed of slightly smaller size, but similar in shape. The pods falling down were part of Spore Spawn. This seed was much larger then the average of its family, and was actually nearly three times the largest recorded growth. Its bumps weren't meant to be there, and the seeds shouldn't be acidic, but should fall only periodically, carrying Spore Spawn seeds. The seed, while able to move and attack threats, would overheat easily, and would have to reveal its inner portion in order to avoid death from heat. The only differences in the inner portions of the Spore Spawn in front of me, was an increased portion and growth in the inner portions, effectively raising it's energy production capabilities, but producing a considerable amount of heat.

I jumped out of the way as it fell a third time, this time cracking open slightly. I was about to get my chance. I jumped onto the ridges circling the two halves. It opened further, a misty blast of heat bursting from it's now-opened shell. My warning sensors went off, and the heat was actually great enough to damage my shielding partially. I ignored the neglectable damage and fired the seed full of missiles. Hopefully the additional heat would either burn it up, or keep it open for longer. As I fired the last missile into it, I continued my assault. Burning heat and water continued to spew from its core as I stood, firing into it. Suddenly, without warning, it slammed shut. It caught even me by guard, and slammed shut on my foot. I winced in pain. It had dented the plating, and was crushing my foot between the two sides of my boot. I screamed from pain, unable to feel my foot, and swore to myself at the stupid mistake I'd made. It slammed to the ground, jarring me, and then slammed me against the wall.

The force it could produce was amazing, almost unreal. The average spore Spawn could grind the bones in someone's foot till they were fractured beyond repair. This spore spawn could crush _my_ foot, through Chozo plating and shielding technology. The wind was knocked out of me over and over as it repeatedly smashed me against the wall. After an innumerable number of beatings, I managed to slip my foot from its grasp, wincing and falling to my other leg as my foot touched the ground. I smiled and swore to myself. I had made a mistake that could easily end my mission. I would have to recover from this before I could even think of continuing. My suit quickly managed to bend the metal back into its original shape, but my foot would take more time. Spore Spawn came crashing down at me. If it made contact with me like this it would snap my neck. I rolled and dodged out of the way, and off the ledge I had been flung onto. It landed on the ledge, thankfully, and stopped a foot above my head. I could hear its shell separating. This would be my last chance.

I rolled out from under it and jumped into the air, my foot telling me how unhappy it was as I rolled in the air, firing a newly-made missile into its core, following it up with as many energy blasts I could manage. The plant seemed to screech in pain, but it was simply its core steaming. It didn't have a chance to even begin cooling down this time, before the smallest amount of heated water had been expelled; the volley hit its mark, the missile set to wait one second after impact. The energy blasts hit right behind the missile, driving it into the very center of the Plant's core. It detonated, and this time, as heat was expelled from its pore-like holes, there was no liquid spittle coming out. It had reached boiling temperatures, and only steam came from the holes. The entire plant was cooking, and that was obvious. Slowly, but surely, I saw Spore Spawn wither, it's vine shriveling as it died, and with it's death, the death of the entire room seemed to follow suit. The entire room turned a dead brown color, and I knew it was over.

For an amount of time I couldn't imaging remembering, I just lay down on my back and stared off into space. I don't even know if it was hours. I didn't know the time before I had fought Spore Spawn, and I didn't bother checking the time after I was done. I just stared off into space, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my foot, the obvious pool of blood that was no doubt forming in my boot as I waited. A shooting pain reminded me that I had no time to wait. I had to take action, or I'd die of blood loss right here. I pushed myself up to a sitting position, and looked up. The exit below me was still the same color, and not even my missiles or bombs would open it. I stood on my good foot and looked up. I would have to climb onto Spore Spawn, and somehow above him, all to get to my exit. I sighed, swore, and jumped, grabbing onto the bumpy, spiky plant with both hands, and started climbing up. It was going to be a long mission.

* * *

This, to me, was the first real fight. The fight with Ridley was inconclusive, and, as I said in the last chapter (sorta), the fight with the torizu was just horrible. I really, really didn't like how it went, and if I was taking this as a more edited story, I'd probably have re-written it. Once I'm totally done with this one, we'll see about that, but for now, I'll just try to do better with the rest of the chapters. Something about being tired just makes me better, I guess, because that last chapter was the only one I'd written in the morning. Again, please leave a comment. 


	6. consequences

Sorry guys, but this one will be painfully and obviously slow traversing as far as storyline goes. It really has no true significance because of the frame it covers, because well… she's getting there with just one foot, really. Anyways, read on, and tell me what you think about it, afterwards.

* * *

I reached up towards the top of the massive seeds edge, grasping a large spine and pulling myself up to the top of it, kneeling on one knee and looking up. Climbing was no work, really. It was the jumping that made things difficult. Not only was the jump around fifteen feet, but I only had one leg to jump on. I breathed deeply, trying to calm my nerves. I really had no idea how I was going to complete this with my foot in this condition. I would have to find some way to rest and recover. I made a stupid mistake fighting, and now I had to work extra hard just to survive. I focused on my goal and jumped upwards with all the strength I could push into my right leg. My fingertips brushed against a vine hanging from the wall, and I gripped it tight, pulling myself upwards. I reached up with one hand, and gripped the thick vines covering the ceiling just as the vine in my other hand gave way, ripping away from the ceiling in several places. I sighed with relief and pulled myself into the much taller upper chamber, and simply looking up at the top made me doubt myself for a moment. The ledges weren't spread very far apart, they were much closer then that first jump had been.

I stood up on my foot and made a blind leap to the first one, barely landing on it, my toes bearing the full weight. I wobbled for several moments before grabbing the wall just as I began falling backwards. I looked across the room, towards the next ledge. It was about as high up on my head, but I was gapped from it by a large hole that I didn't feel like falling into. I looked across, and jumped, this time making it much further. If it hadn't been for my training when I was young, I couldn't even manage a jump like this if I was on reduced gravity. On the higher gravity of Zebes, I was lucky to have that training, or else travel would be one climb after another. I repeated my jumps, landing more perfectly every time. I was getting used to jumping on one foot, and after only a few more minutes I was at the top of the last ledge, glad that I was done with that room. I walked across a metal floor towards the door, shooting it from a good distance so I could glance inside before I reached it.

I sighed in relief to see that it was a perfectly level room, with only a few hills toward the edges. I looked towards the end and suddenly felt trapped. There was no door, no holes to go through. I had nowhere to go from here. The last room was sealed by a heavy lock that I couldn't break through. I walked to the edge, nearly hopping on one foot as I reached the end of the room. There was only a green pipe. These were usually filled by beetle-like creatures that produce intense heat in order to protect their hive. I'd be able to survive the heat, but if an entire hive was present, I would have to rethink my strategy before diving in. The pipes once led to the heating and cooling systems of the planet, but the beetles consistently made the pipes in this area their home, so the attempts to use them in Brinstar were halted. The pipes were sealed off, and only used in emergencies for travel between locked areas. How they got past the hives is unknown, but every pipe would lead to a safe house, where there is food, water, weapons, and safety. No one has actually gotten into the safe house for centuries, because the only creatures that could traverse through were the Chozo, and they weren't around to show their secrets...

I snapped out of my thoughts, the task at hand suddenly seeming more important. I looked down into the pipe, and was pleasantly surprised with only darkness. No guardian beetles rushing out for the good of the hive, but only a darkness that beaconed one to traverse through. I fired my power beam down, to make sure that nothing was hiding in the empty home. Pleased with the resulting absence of sound, I stepped into the tube, bracing myself against the wall in order to keep myself from quickly falling to my death. I looked down, and allowed myself to fall for a short distance. However, I lost my leverage against the wall, and the surrounding pipes suddenly changed. They were no longer the pipes that seemed to only hold darkness in them, but were surprisingly changing to a bright, well-lit tunnel. I pressed my back and good food against the wall as I began picking up speed. The slick walls didn't hold to my suit for long, and the screeching of metal against metal filled my ears as I pressed harder and harder against the wall, now using my hands to press myself harder against the wall. I slowed from my speed, and slowly, but surely, I had come to a near halt. A fall at that rate wouldn't have injured me if I hit ground that very moment. Unfortunately for me, it still hurt. Alot.

I howled in pain as I felt myself fall onto my broken foot. The walls had ended and opened up into a large room, the decorations not very different from the room I had found my bomb upgrade in. I looked behind myself and was greeted with another familiar sight. I slowly stood, my foot throbbing from its impact only moments before, but I fired at the sphere, and found a chip inside of it. I fumbled with my suit through my slightly blurred vision and pushed the chip into the appropriate slot, watching it disappear as my suit absorbed the information filled onto it. A message filled my visor as I was greeted by a pleasant message. "Missile systems expanded, 'super missiles' added to armory." I smiled to myself. This would have been useful earlier. I hobbled over to the door, opening it, and stumbling around as I crossed the nearly empty room to the green door blocking my advance. I knew they had put the missiles there for some reason. I locked my cannon and fired a missile into the door, shattering the green shield and opening the door, the sheer power of the missile shaking the entire room with its shockwave.

I look at the room and find familiar plants blocking my way. Shooting several blasts into the plant-life, destroying it, I roll into morph ball and travel through, finding my body very unresponsive from blood loss. I had to make it to the refresher. It was the only place that my damaged suit and I had I chance to survive in. If I simply fell down and slept right here, my suit would be unable to function for long enough for my recovery. I had to recharge my suit and allow my body to mend its wounds at the same time. I found myself further down the room, and began rushing up the walls, climbing and leaping as far and fast as I could, making any attempt that was possible to make it to the hidden room faster. I reached the top and fired at the wall multiple times, and climbed up, rolling through a passage I had only gone through once before. I opened the door and flopped down into the room. I was beginning to black out. I stepped into the tank and rested against the walls, my legs refusing to carry me further then to a standing position. I found latches on the container, and gladly strapped into them. Anything that would help me mend faster was welcome, but no sooner had I put my hands into position then I found myself blacking out for the second time this mission. just as I blacked out, my mission seemed to replay out in my mind, as though I were living it out for the first time, but this time, for some strange reason, I saw a familiar person traveling with me. I couldn't recognize who it was, but I knew that he and I were friends, and I knew that we were also working on something important... but I had no idea why it was such a familiar memory to travel with him...

* * *

I'm not really sure how much I like this chapter. It could be because of the time span it covered, and it probably is, but because of _how_ I wrote last chapter, I really had no choice but to make this one go at a crawling pace. Anyways, I really need C&C on this, guys! I'm definitely going to be finishing this because of what it's for, but I would rather get some feedback from you guys, too. . 


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